She's here!!

Sienna Grace arrived on February 20th at 3:08pm!!

Labor and delivery was really not bad and when little Sienna got here I forgot the pain and was so overwhelmed by her and how quickly I fell in love- and how absolutely amazed I was that J and I made this gorgeous little baby.

It's been 8 days now and I'm still in an absolute daze (I apologize to anyone I have not emailed or called back) both from emotions and the 4 hours of sleep I've accumulated in those 8 days! We are all tired but in love. Seeing J with Sienna makes my heart do leaps and bounds. I can't ask for a more supportive husband. And a big thanks to our families, especially my mom who has been amazing at making sure I eat drink and shower. We are infinitely lucky to have so much love in our life with our new little member of our family- and for the friends and family who have poured out their love to us over the past week.

And since really all you want is pictures... here are some favs.

That's all for now! holding baby in one hand makes typing hard!

love from Sienna!! xoxo

Nursery Finished!

Loving our nursery and it's all ready for baby. If only baby was ready to be here. Wanted to share the "finished" product. I say finished because we all know around here there are always little things to be tweaked in rooms, paint to be touched up, more shelves or book cases to add... 

I know I know, we can't have bumpers once we have baby but they look pretty. There is also an adorable dust ruffle for the crib which has yet to be ironed. Oops. See what I mean "almost" finished. Here she is, in all her glory, with some of my favorite details!



Love our RH crib & PB bedding close up!

Etsy Framed Art from my best friends, Embroidery hoops, Ikea mini vases.

Pottery Barn Kids Bedding, Restoration Hardware Crib,Ikea DIY quote Frames, Curta

Babys R Us Dressing Table with Anthropologie Pulls, Glider, Hamper, and previously owned pillow.

Love this pillow. Blanket from San Francisco from my parents visit there this summer.

Oh PB kids Chandelier, I adore adore adore you!

Overall room with focus on carpet, previously owned from Ikea

Tons of books for Baby Walls!

All we need to add is little baby girl walls!



Quilt hand-made by J's mom. Matches curtains and is so soft. We can't wait for baby to use this!

THON IS TOMORROW

Lately I've been super self-focused. Wondering about my body's signals, when baby will come. Thinking about how my lower back hurts in my chair at work. And yesterday a little notification popped up on facebook. Holly. Oh, Holly, you always bring me back to earth. Holly asked how I was, and let me know she was thinking of me. Holly became a new mama herself this year, and was just checking in.

You know how everyone says cancer sucks? Holly knows the true meaning. Last year I posted about how proud I am that this beautiful sweet young woman beat leukemia (screw you cancer) and is happy and married and living her life. But that same beautiful woman lost her mom to a nasty fight with pancreatic cancer that ended too soon. And it's not fair. It reminds me how precious life is and how important philanthropies like THON are.

We always say about THON, "THIS is what we mean when we say We Are Penn State". But oh, it's so much more. To me, this is what we mean when we say THON isfamily. It means that through facebook and emails I've kept in touch with the same "kid, now a grown up, who inspired me to dance for 48 hours. It means that little Clay's mom, whose first THON was when I was chair back in my senior year, commented recently on a sorority sister's facebook photo saying how they missed us. THON creates families, it creates a forever tie to this amazing fundraising cause. I'm so thankful for that. You can't explain THON. You can try to share it, but unless you were a part of it, you just can't get it. Maybe it's why THON means family. Because once you're a part of it, you're a part of it forever.

I remember that first year after graduation. I shed tears not only for the kids who lost their battles, and joyous ones for the money raised, but also because I felt I left a part of me at PSU with THON, and beig a graduated senior meant no more THON for me. Years later, I can look back and see that THON will forever be part of my life, that I can help by donating, and that the legacy lives on.

So here's my shameless plug. GO DONATE. HELP KIDS FIGHT CANCER. No child deserves to lose their battle- and our hope is that one day we won't have THON, because there will be no more battles.

CLICK HERE TO DONATE

And in case you are wondering, or want a quick cry, here's a video.

PS Dear Baby Walls, if you do happen to show up on THON weekend that's just fine with us. :)

Mixed Feelings and some Cinnamon Stick Tea

Last weekend, we brought Dexter to the adoption center at our vet's office. After a bazillion tears (which I have to admit are still randomly coming), we decided it was best. Our vet's office only takes a few cats at once, and will work with him to make sure he can calm down before he goes to a new home. Ever since we brought him in though, a wave of guilt and sadness have just been lurking around me. Despite the fact that he is a completely crazy feline, the adoption agency director assures me they are working with Dexter to help him calm down so they can find him a home. Still, my heart is broken over this.

And so I am trying to turn my attention to baby. Because that is happy and I know that Dex would have hated being in a house with a little newborn, it gives me a comforting feeling. But oh my goodness, where is baby? I am not overdue yet and know I shouldn't be so impatient. But on Friday the doctor said she'd be "shocked" if I made it through the weekend, and here we are on Wednesday. As the days go by I hope baby will arrive to help me snap out of feeling sort of blah.

In other baby progression attempts, my friend Laurie swore that cinnamon stick tea helped her induce labor. So at 6:00 am today, I was downstairs boiling water and mixing in cinnamon sticks. By the time I got to work, I had finished a huge mug and was hoping for the best. But so far, nothing. Nada. The doctors shouldn't tell you that you are going to go early if you are not... it is very frustrating.


(Mine did not look this pretty and I had to add brown sugar to stomach it)

 The other thing keeping me afloat is my super positive husband. He gave me a great birthday and Valentine's day and even brought home spicy pad thai, when I mentioned that spicy food might help. Ohhh and also- waiting for me- is a bag of 6 of my favorite wines for post baby. Yay! He also assures me daily Dexter will find a new home, that our baby is just waiting until she's ready, and that we will have a lot of happy times coming up in the near future.

So for now, I daydream about baby and also about summer. Maybe it's a mid winter funk. By June we will have a cute little baby, be spending some weekends in Rehoboth, and all will be well.

Wish us luck!

Last Cat Post: Cat Free to a GOOD non-cat home.

Sadly, this has to be the last cat post about the prozac and the crazies.  I know that once I write this and once we do what we need to do, my broken heart will no longer allow me to write funny blogs about them.

Last night, the cat fighting got worse. I was home alone, 38 weeks preg, and petrified. All I could think of in my head was, "what would happen if I was holding our infant?" The cats were separated but Internet managed to finagle his way through the door when I opened it and Dexter turned around and attacked. It was horrible, horrible, horrible. Imagine the worst cat noises you've ever heard times ten.

I managed to separated them by throwing a huge huge blanket over one and picking up the entire thing and almost tossing it down the stairs. I managed to chase Dex up the stairs into the guest room. They are still in their perspective spots this morning.

I called Jamie crying, because for the first time in a long time, I was scared that they would hurt me- or worse- baby. I pictured myself with a newborn infant in my arms- I couldn't have cat wrangled. They would never act like that when they are alone. They are sweet and purr and want to be held. And I adoooore these cats. What human being pays for vet bills, prozac, feliway refills ($70 a pop, last for less than a month), and deals with separation and closed doors of the house for their cats? Well, we did. But not anymore.

So when J came home last night, we discussed our options and this morning we called the vet. I have an intense fear he is going to tell me Dex needs to be put to sleep because he is sometimes unpredictable. But low and behold, this morning, in their own spaces, they are calm. And nice. They just hate living together. And that is so mean. It is like keeping two fighting spouses in an house and making them fight it out instead of divorcing after trying everything they can.

I love love love these animals, but I love my family more- so they have got to go.

ANYONE who knows of a good home with NO OTHER CATS (and preferably no babies since we don't know how they'd really react to that) please let me know. My heart is broken in a billion pieces and I have shed quite a few tears over my pets. But they need a new home, or at least one of them does. Living with another male dominant cat is not an option.

I think they'd do best in a home with just adults or even one older adult who needs some company. They love to cuddle and purr and be nice when they are just with humans, but add another cat in the mix and it just does not go well.

PLEASE someone help me find a home for these love bugs. They are good cats, they just are both dominant and can't be with other cats. We are willing to give away either of them if someone has a preference.

Help a pet lover out and find my guys a home. xoxo.

Ring redo take 2

Okay, so the reason the Target ring was $9 was because it was worth $4. Within two weeks, it started to tarnish. I could deal with that. Then it started to turn my finger green, juuuust a little. Fine. But this week it started to creep up my hand and turn my entire finger a weird shade of greenish blue.... not okay.

I went back to the drawing board.

I decided to wear my grandma's anniversary diamond ring she gifted me a few years ago. Now, I admit, it is a bit tight but as long as I take it off at the end of my work day, I am okay. And I remembered the first ring Jamie ever gave me. A green amethyst white gold ring with teeny diamonds on it. This ring was what made me fall in love with the concept of a cushion cut stone.

I sort of love this combo. Regular gold and white gold mixed with diamonds and green. Sigh, don't you love jewelry?

PS The stray cat came back this morning and sent our cats into a tizzy again. Jamie then effectively poured half a jar of our small cayenne pepper outside before work. We will see what happens....

Couldn't make this stuff up: Kindling.

I love my kindle. Love love love. It is the old school one, not the kindle fire. But the problem is the screen breaks. It's not just me either, I know a lot of people who have this issue.

But today on amazon chat, I encoutered Lizly (I don't get it- did her parents mean to name her Liz or Lilly??) and I couldn't help but laugh at our conversation.

Lizly asked me to trouble shoot, reboot, etc. It didn't work of course because anyone with two brain cells knows how to turn something on and off, plug it in, and then try again. When it still didn't work this was the rest of our convo:

Lizly:Oh, I'm sorry to hear that Meghan. Was this kindle a gift from someone?
Me:Yes,it was a gift two christmases ago. (expecting that they need to know the buyer)
Lizly:Nice.
Me: Yes, do you need to know who purchased it?
Lizly: Oh no, just wondering if it was a gift. That's nice.

Umm.... thanks Lizly. I think it was nice too, but if we can just get back to the whole sending me a new kindle, I'd appreciate that. I suggest you ask for Lizly if you want a laugh during your amazon live chat.

The end.

Damn stray cat in heat....

Fine, the cat is not stray. It belongs to our neighbors. But it is not spayed. They won't do it because "it is mean". Well me shooting your cat with a bee bee gun would be meaner. I am not a mean to animal person, but this cat makes my cats FREAK OUT and it infuriates me.

This morning at 5:45 am we heard horrible cat screeching and came down to fighting animals. They have not fought in months. My first reaction (because I am crazy) was wow, maybe they can smell my hormones and I am going into labor. NOPE. They saw the damn neighbor girl cat on our bay window outside. As my mom says, boys will be boys. And they fight over a girl who is not even reachable because she lives forever beyond the walls and windows of our home.  J said cayenne pepper sprinkled on the garden and window sill will keep crazy hormonal girl cat away.

The fight this morning was actually pretty short lived and after throwing a towel over one cat to scoop him up, some separation did the trick. However, our cats cry like we are KILLING them when we close doors on them. They cried for HOURS. Worse than babies. But I am keeping them apart today. It is their punishment. I have been updating J via email. I called the vet this morning and plan to get their prozac refilled (just like some people, I guess some cats cannot go off their SSRIs without negative effects of mood). We also need more Feliway, it keeps them relatively calm. And some pepper maybe.

Here is our exchange...

to: Jamie

subject: cat update 2

Internet is still SO LOUD but not happy even when I go downstairs with him. He is super moody.

Dexter is now back to Dex (mostly). He is sleeping on the bed and did his stretch out to get me to pet him move when I walked in. Eventualy after giving me the side- eye a few times, he came over and rubbed against me. I ran and got him a cheap litter box for up there.

I don't trust internet to be out and about right now because he is cranky.

J's reply:

Feliway things ordered.  Should arrive Thursday according to Amazon.

I also ordered a 10 pound box of cayenne pepper. :)

WHO ORDERS A 10 POUND BOX OF PEPPER to keep a cat away?! We do. We are not taking this lightly. Baby is coming and we are going into full prevent crazy cat mode.

Signing Off,
Cat Woman.

Baby Showers Galore

This weekend was my sister in law's shower. She makes a very cute pregnant woman,and it was a his and hers shower- even better. I told my own little baby girl to hang in there until after the shower to make her appearance, and she did thankfully. Still pregnant and so glad I got to celebrate my soon to be niece! Wanted to share a few photos of the decorations and the dessert table... mmm. My mom sure hosts a good shower ... and this will probably be the last big one at our house! Weddings, check! First babies (or at least the showers), check!

The diaper wreath hanging behind the chairs for mommy + daddy to be.  Pink marshmallows.

 Dessert table with cute sign above it- missing the pink and white chocolate covered strawberries.

 Favors, framed invitation, and upside down invitation with baby booties.

 Etsy framed print, "wishes for baby" and baby photos on the bay window, heart strings across. Love.

Switched out the christmas theme "the stockings were hung" but kept the baby clothesline going.

Opening tons of gifts - Be Prepared- the dad's guide- Got this for Jamie and for my brother. Great book, I actually recommend it to any dad's to be. Gives the realistic picture of what happens...

Look at these two proud great-grandmas to be! Enjoying the incredible cupcakes.

37 weeks and no longer enjoying photos, but good to remember these times.

We drove back to our house last night; juuuust in case and because sleeping in my own bed at this point is more comfy. But we had the best time laughing and celebrating with everyone.

Congrats Sam + Matt! We can't wait to meet baby!

Full Term

Baby is full term today!

Yay!!

Is it really February?

In a good mood today as we welcome in a new month...

• Excited for my sister in law and brother's baby shower this weekend.
• Our baby is due in February, she's almost here!
• The doctors (two different ones) have told me they expect she will arrive early (!!!)
• They both seem really pumped about this, I am excited slash scared slash excited.
• Will I make it until our baby shower with J's family??
• My friends are the best and have helped me build up the excitement for her to get here.
• I hope she isn't born on my birthday, I want us to have our own.
• It is 67 degrees outside per my car thermometer.
• This makes me want an iced coffee and a pedicure
• Neither are necessary, it is not June.
• I keep thinking the weather will stay like this; I know it is likely a tease.
• I love our house lately. It's cleaner than normal (thanks nesting) and so comfy.
• Maybe this is because we are almost finished with renovations!
• Leggings are my best friend; I can't wait until I can (god willing) fit back into all of my favorite jeans that I miss and long for.
• Valentine's day is coming. I know it's cheesy but I love a holiday built on candy and bling.

Happy February!